Felix Maria Davídek

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Felix Maria Davídek

Felix Maria Davídek (born January 21, 1921 in Chrlice , today Brno , Czechoslovakia , † August 18, 1988 ) was a Roman Catholic bishop of the Czech underground church during communist rule.

Life

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Brno on June 29, 1945 . In the course of the suppression of the Catholic Church after the communist coup of 1948 he was in prison from 1950 to 1964.

On October 29, 1967, he was secretly ordained a bishop by Bishop Jan Blaha . Since communication with the Roman church leadership was only possible with great restrictions due to the political situation, some of his actions are still controversial today. This applies in particular to the ordination of his vicar general Ludmila Javorová to the priesthood . Since the church leadership considers the ordination of women to be impossible to this day, it was precisely this act, when it became known after the collapse of the communist regime, that aroused great interest for Davídek.

Episcopal ordinations

Concerned about the future of the Church in Czechoslovakia, Felix Maria Davídek ordained priests of both rites as bishops. Since he could not obtain a commission from the Holy See , he invoked the commission of Pius XII. who, in 1949, had asked the bishops of the communist countries to ordain possible successors as a precaution in the event of their arrest. The crackdown on the Prague Spring and the subsequent repression did the rest.

Of the 17 consecrated bishops, 2 were recognized and consecrated by Rome.

literature

  • Petr Fiala, Jiri Hanus: The Hidden Church. Felix M. Davidek and the Koinótés community. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2004
  • Erwin Koller , Hans Küng , Peter Križan, (Eds.): The betrayed prophecy. The Czechoslovak underground church between the Vatican and communism. Ed. Exodus, Lucerne 2011.
  • Ondřej Liška : Every time is God's time. The underground church in Czechoslovakia. St. Benno, Leipzig 2003.
  • Christa Pongratz-Lippitt: Czechoslovakia's secret Church. The Tablet, April 9, 2011.
  • Christa Pongratz-Lippitt: Davidek: mad or a genius. The Tablet, March 8, 2003.
  • Peter Sepp: Secret consecrations. The women in the hidden Czechoslovak church Koinótēs . Schwabenverlag Ostfildern 2004.
  • Eva Vybíralová: underground church and secret consecrations. A canonical study of the situation in Czechoslovakia 1948–1989. (Dissertation) Charles University, Prague 2017

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ František Tomášek
  2. ↑ Apostolic Succession - Czechoslovakia
personal data
SURNAME Davídek, Felix Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak clergyman, Roman Catholic bishop of the Czech underground church
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Chrlice , Czechoslovakia
DATE OF DEATH August 18, 1988